


Bonfire of My Vanity

by upquarkAO3



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: "I Need The Eggs" Easter Fic Exchange, Established but still new Deckerstar, Gen, Hope it came through, Life is both difficult and lovely, Tried that here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 05:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10690893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upquarkAO3/pseuds/upquarkAO3
Summary: How do you celebrate establishment's take on your little brother's really busy weekend of death and resurrection? Well if you're a recently quasi-domesticated Devil you set things on fire, natch.





	Bonfire of My Vanity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moonatoms](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonatoms/gifts).



> For the lovely and talented moonatoms! Prompt was 'Easter Fire' and I hope I did some justice to your wonderful idea. (((allgoodthings))) to you :-)
> 
> Lucifer, Chloe, Dan, Trixie and Maze are all gathered on a lovely spring evening on the beach. It is Easter weekend, but what with the divorce and Lucifer and Chloe becoming Lucifer/Chloe all still relatively new and latent trappings of religiosity and extended family obligation weak, Chloe and Dan hadn’t really planned much of anything; just their usual amicable hand-off. And some candy and chocolate for their best girl because when weren’t those things fun?  
> When Lucifer had (in an uncharacteristically insistent push for anything not prim and pristine) suggested making a fire on the beach with everyone the parents figured ‘eh, why not?’ And despite Maze’s relative freedom from Lucifer’s service, she still took her role of protector quite seriously. However since now she had extended it to her ‘little human tribe’ in general, she insisted on coming along. Besides. This was unusual. To the best of her knowledge Lucifer had not been back to the beach very often, and a fire? Well. That was weird and she’d never been one to miss out on strange, so here they all were gathered on blankets against the seaside evening chill.  
> ‘Chill’ however was usually NOT a distinctive factor in this little group and like it says in Ecclesiastes ‘nothing new under the sun’. So, cue the standard noise. Annnnnd go.

 

“We can’t have a campfire without telling stories!”

“It’s  NOT  a campfire. It’s a BONfire.”

“What's the difference?”

“Well, we’re certainly not sleeping outside on the beach like vagrants. That’s barbaric.”

“’Barbaric’ sounds good.”

“Maze…”

“What? I’m just saying.”

“You guys argue worse than kids. And I’m a kid so I should know.”

Laughter from Chloe at the faces pulled by Lucifer and Maze, growing ever darker at Dan’s silent smirk at their rebuke from his daughter. Despite her chuckles, clearly some damage control was necessary. “Lucifer, since it’s your fire, why don’t YOU tell a story?”

“Yeah. Do that why don’t you? And make it a  good  one. Like, **really** good.”

“Belligerent hussy of a demon: fine, all right. Can’t believe I’m debasing myself to the level of mere bard. Let me think….ah! ‘ _Once upon a time, in a land far far away there lived…’”_

“A HANDSOME PRINCE!”

“ No , urchin. Well there was, but he didn’t live there. Anyway, if I might continue sans impious blabberus?”

“Yes Lucifer, geez. Shh Trix, you goof. Come here. Cuddle up with me.”

“Okay, Mom. Wow, he’s really touchy, huh?”

“Yes I am, but your mother knows that has nothing to do with this so  hush . As I was saying,”

“Droning.”

“MAZE! Might I?”

“Oops.” *dirty snicker*

“ **_So_ ** _this land was like a desert. It was arid_ …” He paused, noting Trixie’s look of confusion. “That means ‘dry’ you uncivilized sprite. Honestly Chloe, I told you MONTHS ago to buy your child a thesaurus. You’re not doing her any favors shackling her amorphous mind to what passes for education here without some additional help.”

“Are you planning to finish this story before morning or **should** I just go out and buy sleeping bags so we  can  camp out here on the beach?”

“Ha-ha-ha. Such mirthful whimsy, Detective. Honestly, you’re no better than your progeny. And here I’ve been blaming the Douche for her more obvious deficits.”

“LUCIFER! C’mon man.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t  sound  very sorry.”

“No? You don’t say? Shocking, really. Well then.”

 _‘Long ago and far away there lived a person that was unlike any other seen before. He was bright and liked to learn. He had special talents. He was also kind, but had a temper when he was pushed too far, or saw cruelty. He had family that loved him. He had friends that he loved, too. He had some impossibly strange ideas that it was_ **_who_ ** _a person was that mattered, not what they possessed or controlled or how well they fulfilled the expectations of others. He wanted people to be good to one another so they could live in harmony forever and he traveled the land sharing his ideas in the form of stories, hoping that people would listen and remember.’_

“Did they?”

Chloe tried to hush Trixie, but Lucifer simply looked over at her with a small painful smile.

“Some did, child. But not everyone. And unfortunately not those in power over the people of that land. Shall I continue?”

“I guess…but it sounds like something sad is going to happen.”

“It does.”

“OH!”

“But…” *sigh* “…but  some times from the saddest of occurrences come the most wonderful things.” He caught Chloe’s eye and they both smiled with the gaze alone, “…so it is worth hanging on to the very end if you can. Will you?”

“Yes. But don’t make the sad part TOOOOO long, okay?”

“All right. Truth be told I don’t like it very much either.”

_‘After a time, the stories he told and the special things he could make happen began to create a reputation that traveled far beyond the man himself. That made certain people, including those in power over the land, very nervous and they wanted to control him._

Lucifer pauses, with brow furrowed before continuing.

 _‘_ _But he would not allow himself to be controlled_ _. He would not change his message, as he knew it to be right. And this caused strife.’_

Lucifer stills again here. So many parallels between he and Yeshua. **So** many. But  their  story was not part of  this  one so he keeps on.

_‘During a special time of celebration the people of the land held every year, the special man was lauded – welcomed – into a big city. But then he was taken away from his friends and family to be punished by the men of laws. Rumor went that he was betrayed by one of his own in order for it to occur.’_

“That’s awful! Did it really happen that way?”

“So say some, child, but remember…history is always written by the victor and not every truth is revealed at the same time.”

Trixie just nodded, wrapped tightly in her mother’s arms with her father at her side and her little face solemn in the flickering light of the smoky fire.

On Lucifer’s other side Maze glowered, eyes as bright as the familiar flames before her.

 _‘And punished he was. Whipped, beaten and scourged_ . _And worse to come._ ’

And even though Trixie does not understand all of this she knows not to interrupt as she can see from the pain on Lucifer’s face how very terrible it must be.

 _‘But even then, there was a chance….a chance he might be spared. One of the men of laws asked the people to choose between this man and another as was tradition during this time of revelry. The people chose the_ _other_ _man, a criminal, and so the special man was marked for death.’_

The little girl couldn’t help herself. “But WHY? If all he did was say to be nice? And helped people? Didn’t they listen to his stories like you said? And they’d **just** welcomed him in, right?! Didn’t they like him anymore?”

“Yes to all of those things.”

“But then…why would they want to see him die? Mommy and Daddy and even you and Maze help catch criminals. Some of those people do really bad things. Why would a good person be punished when bad people aren’t?”

“That, young one, is a question for the ages and I’m afraid I haven’t an answer for you. Now, I’m almost finished, but fair warning, it gets worse before it gets better.”

“All right. But hurry.”

“I shall.”

_‘The man was sentenced and since he would not advocate for himself he accepted it. Those who loved him were heartbroken, but frightened. So they didn’t say or do anything to help.’_

Lucifer clenched his teeth, clearly furious before he coughed and resettled himself.

_‘He was to be made an example of so his death was public and painful and sad. When it was over his body was taken to be cleansed and dressed and buried in a safe place. His friends and family left to mourn him. A few days later one of the friends visited his gravesite and found the area disturbed and his body missing.’_

“Oh NO!”

“Oh,  YES . But it was a good thing. Remember when I said the man had special talents? This was one.”

 _‘So the man with the unusual gifts, ones that included understanding his own form and spirit as few others could, had left to see his older brother where he lived. They’d only seen one other a few brief times for a_ **_long_ ** _time before that and so they enjoyed each other’s company very much. After a few days the special man went home – to his real home - and with him he took some…people…who had become broken and lost their way and found themselves with his brother.’_

“Was it like a resort?”

“Not hardly.”

“Maze….”

“Well? It’s not!”

“What **is** it like then?”

“Think of it….more like a hospital. Like your mother had been in. There is pain and suffering there, yes, but people go when they have something wrong and it needs to be made right before they can leave.”

“Oh, okay. So if the older brother was running the ‘hospital’ [everyone tried not to snicker at the comic relief of Trixie’s exaggerated ‘air quotes’], then the special man was what…like Uber? Just getting the lost people back to where they were supposed to be?”

“Something like. Very close, actually.  **Uber** . That’s per **_fec_ ** tion.”

“Lucifer stop laughing, she doesn’t…”

“No, seriously darling; it’s fantastic. Can’t wait to  - ”

“…finish the story before dawn?”

“Right. Yes, sorry. Anyway,”

_‘The night before the man left, the brothers had a celebration. The older one loved light. Loved it more than almost anything actually, but where he lived now was mostly dark. The younger loved it too, so together they built a glorious fire to enjoy. It was so bright that it was still burning the next day and lit the special man’s path home as he guided the wayward people. Indeed, it was SO bright that the lingering glow of it still lights the way for others who might become lost. So, now we end with the special man getting to go home and the lost people finding their path easier. And ever afterwards some others have remembered his stories and told them on through the generations.’_

Silence for a while.

Then Trixie’s face scrunched. “It’s not really a happy ending, though.”

“What do you mean, monkey? The man was okay in the end. And the lost people. And those who retell and are comforted by his stories.”

“But that’s not  everyone . If the brothers loved each other…they did, right?”

“Yes.”

Chloe’s heart nearly breaks for the look on Lucifer’s face as he said the word.

“Well, then why couldn’t the older one go with them, too? Especially if his home was dark and he loved the light?”

“It wasn’t his home, child: simply where he was residing. And it wasn’t his idea to be there, either.”

“Sounds awful. Even better reason to leave then.”

“It was and he did. Eventually.”

“Oh! That’s great! So he’s with his family now, too? People who love him?”

“Not yet completely where he needs to be, but yes baby. He **is** with people who love him now.”

“Mo-om! How do YOU know? It’s Lucifer’s story!”

“Oh I just do. _I haff mye vays…_ ’ a silly accent and a tickle and peals of childish laughter rang across the low sigh of the sea and crackling purr of the fire.

And then voices were quiet as they all watched the flames lick through the dry timber, popping and cracking with the scent of resin and smoldering change. Matter to energy to the void to all of it all over again carving endless spirals through the garden of time. Which was the true Eden, as things can be _known_ but nothing can be _understood_ as a singularity. Mortals require linear time for the lessons of cause and effect: their burden and blessing both.

Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe noticed Lucifer was looking at a slightly different vantage point than the rest. Tacked back on his elbows with long legs crossed at the ankles he was staring up where the sparks of his fire were blown by the salt wind to the stars above. These were also his fires. But extinguished by the gusts nothing he’d created here reached those winking in the inky black. Not yet.

She reached out and took his hand.

He squeezed back and after a minute looked over at her to smile. She was sure the brightness in his eyes was simply from smoke blowing…or at least that’s what he’d say if she asked, so she didn’t.

After a time, Dan gathered a sleepy Trixie in his arms and Maze left with him, snarking quietly that ‘he could barely take care of himself much less with his hands full so she had his six’.

Lucifer and Chloe were left alone under the dying light of the fire and it just made the blazing points above them all the more bright. Still, she couldn’t help teasing him a little.

“Fire’s going out. You didn’t bank it.”

“I’ve got it well in hand, thank you very much.”

“Oh.  Really .”

“Yes of course. See?”

He opened his palm and blew gently. A small flickering spark tendriled out over his hand and Chloe gasped. She’d long known who (and what) he was, but it was still SO STRANGE to see evidence of it.

“Don’t be frightened.”

“I’m not. You know that.”

“Here. You can hold it if you want.”

“Um, hello? Mortal, remember? Not singe proof?”

“Please. As if I’d let anything hurt you. Anything I can control, any road. Besides, it’s Easter not Pentecost so keep your knickers on…or at least until we get off this beach. Very scratchily unpleasant doing the dirty **here** would be, I’d think. Be like messing about in a cat’s litterbox: disgusting.”

As she chuckled at him he cupped her hands in one of his and with the other wafted the little flame to dance above her fingertips. She watched, spellbound.  

“It tickles!”

“Well, it IS me, so….”

“Lucifer!”

“Say it don’t spray it.”

She swatted him, sending the tamed ember sparkling off into the night with the rest. “You’re awful.”

“I’ve actually heard otherwise. Pretty good… **divine** I’ve heard bandied about, even. As you should well know.”

“Oh you are SUCH a mess, I don’t even know where to start to untangle.” Chloe poked at him and Lucifer wriggled happily, not even bothering to put on a show of defending himself.

“Fret not, darling. I’ve been a conundrum for ages for many, I assure you.”

“Hmph. Shut up now. If you can.” She pulled her loose hair back and scooched over to curl herself into his side to look up at his stars. The tiny ones pierced in her ears twinkled just as cheerily and Lucifer played with the one on top as he cupped her jaw to pull her closer. Chloe closed her eyes, listening to the beat of his borrowed human heart through the soft shirt under her cheek. The material held the scent of smoke and idly she wondered if it was from the fire within him or the ones he’d created.

He kissed the top of her head and she smiled as she murmured, ‘you know…’

“What, Chloe?”

“You’re…”

“ What ?”

“Pretty hot. Like, both. The last one literally. Liiiiiiike, **both** meanings.” She bit him gently on the collarbone through the thin fabric and Lucifer chuckled at her. The sound warmed her more than the flames.

“Ridiculous human. What AM I going to do with you?”

“Um…thought you were supposed to be the expert? Wassa matter…run out of ideas already? _Jesus_.”

“No! Stop, you wretched minx! Don’t bring my baby brother’s whitewashed name into this; won’t be able to perform for a week at least! Vile. Thought **I** had some idiot humor, but you’re just a closet deviant, aren’t you then?”

“Uh-huh. Took you long enough to figure **that** out, smartass.”

Mutual laughter as bright as the finite sparks from the fire and the infinite stars above crackled away over the sand and the sea.

And beyond the boundaries of sky to an impossible smile…waiting.

**Author's Note:**

> fwiw, 'the stars' in Chloe's ears are from my fic in the "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" Christmas fic exchange. The thesaurus remark from 'Devil's Food' :-)


End file.
